September 18:
Russia deployed over 10,000 troops to eastern Ukraine for over a year and covered up the deaths of those soldiers, the Washington Free Beacon reports. The paper, citing a new report from The Interpreter, details that Russia has been supplying separatists in Ukraine's east with sophisticated military equipment, including anti-aircraft weapons like the BUK missile likely used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight 17, since 2014. Further evidence shows that the separatists could not have gained those capabilities by capturing Ukrainian weapons, because the specific models and types of equipment they have is only used by the Russian military and not available for export.
September 19:
The Kremlin is defending its decision to intervene forcefully in Syria - and depicting it as a necessary outcome of Western weakness. "Regrettably, all attempts of the international coalition to counter the terrorist group Islamic State look more like some demonstrative steps, an attempt at simulating anti-terrorist activity," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said in public comments carried by Bulgaria's FOCUS news agency. "First, Islamic State is only growing. Second, there is no model the coalition might offer as a successful project." Against this backdrop, Zakharova has contended, Russia's decision to launch its military campaign in Syria was logical.
September 20:
Russia's campaign in Syria is causing dissension in the ranks of its military. Israel's Yediot Ahronotnewspaper, citing Russian news website gazeta.ru, details that Russian soldiers are refusing to deploy to the Syrian battlefield. According to the troops interviewed by Gazeta.ru, the Russian government had hid the ultimate destination of their deployment, and forced them to sign confidentiality agreements regarding the scope of their service under penalty of law. The original assumption of the troops - that they were being sent to the Ukrainian front - subsequently proved incorrect, creating widespread discontent. "We don't want to go Syria, we don't want to die there," one soldier interviewed by the website said.
September 21:
Tightening official restrictions on the Internet, ongoing tensions with the West, and deepening economic recession are causing brain drain and driving Russian high-tech and financial professionals and lawyers to emigrate to places such as Germany, the U.S., and Israel. Bloomberg reports that, since Vladimir Putin's return to the Russian presidency in 2012, the number of Russian emigres is up by 11 percent, the highest in nine years. "Kremlin policy is forcing the educated class to choose: either line up under the banner of war with the West or leave," according to Russian political scientist - and now expat - Alexander Morozov.
September 22:
The Moscow Times reports that Sergei Pugachyov, a Russian businessman formerly known as "Putin's banker," has filed a $12 billion claim against the Russian government following the expropriation of his business empire. Pugachyov's reversal of fortune took place after he fell out of favor with the Russian president several years ago. "Over the past few years, Russia has pursued a multi-pronged attack against me, my family, and my investments," Pugachyov, the founder of Mezhprombank, said in an official statement released to the press. "I refuse to be intimidated by Russia's tactics."
Russian authorities, however, have a different story. According to them, "Pugachyov helped himself to over $700 million in Russian Central Bank bailout money," and he was stripped of his assets when he fled the country for France in 2009.
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe